Andrew “Bro” Robert Thorn (born February 4, 1982) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Like ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

for the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...

and

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

at the

University of Northern Iowa The University of Northern Iowa (UNI) is a public university in Cedar Falls, Iowa. UNI offers more than 90 majors across the colleges of Business Administration, Education, Humanities, Arts, and Sciences, Social and Behavioral Sciences and grad ...

Early years

Thorn attended

Waterford Mott High School Mott High School or Waterford Mott High School is a public high school in the Waterford School District located in Waterford, Michigan. The official name of the high school is Charles S. Mott High School, named for the automotive industry pion ...

, where he was a two-way player at

and

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

. As a sophomore, he made 2 receptions for 15 yards. As a junior, he had 19 receptions for 270 yards, 3

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

s and received All-conference honors. As a senior, he collected 25 receptions for 450 yards, 6 touchdowns, 68 tackles and 3 sacks. He set a school record with 3

receptions in a single-game. He helped his team finish with a 6–4 record and qualify to the state playoffs for the first time in school history, while receiving second-team All-Metro and All-county honors. He also practiced

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

track Track or Tracks may refer to: Routes or imprints * Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity * Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across * Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...

and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

. He set the school record in the

shot put The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. The shot put competition for men has been a part of the modern Olympics since their revival in 1896, and women's ...

(57'9") and discus throw (172'9"). He received Academic All-state honors in his last 2 years.

College career

Thorn accepted a football scholarship from the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is org ...

. As a

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Entertainment * ''Red Shirts'' (film), a 1952 film about Anita Garibaldi by Franco Rossi * Redshirt (stock character), originally derived from ''Star Trek'', a stock character who dies soon after b ...

freshman, he appeared in 4 games. As a sophomore, he saw limited action. He transferred to the Division I-AA

after the season. As junior, he posted 17 receptions for 190 yards and 4 touchdowns. As a senior, he registered 21 receptions for 308 yards and 6 touchdowns. He finished his college career with 38 receptions for 498 yards and 10

Professional career

Philadelphia Eagles

Thorn was signed as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

by the

after the

2005 NFL draft The 2005 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The NFL draft, draft was held April 23–24, 2005 NFL seaso ...

on April 25. On September 3, he was waived and later signed to the

practice squad In sports, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, ...

, where he spent the rest of the season. He was released on September 2,

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

Dallas Cowboys

On October 4,

, he was signed by the

Dallas Cowboy The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisio ...

to the

. On December 14, he was promoted to the active roster to improve depth at

and H-back, after

Oliver Hoyte Oliver Hoyte (born October 5, 1984) is a former American football linebacker in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys. He played college football at North Carolina State. Early years Hoyte attended Chamberlain High School, wh ...

suffered a knee injury. He was cut after missing a curfew on August 9,

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

Tennessee Titans

On August 22,

, he was signed as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

by the Tennessee Titans, but was released 4 days later.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thorn, Andy 1982 births Living people People from Waterford, Michigan Players of American football from Oakland County, Michigan American football tight ends Iowa Hawkeyes football players Northern Iowa Panthers football players Philadelphia Eagles players Dallas Cowboys players Tennessee Titans players